Disposable sanitary napkin and pantiliners are well known articles of manufacture, which are designed to be placed in the genital region of the wearer to protect undergarments from soiling by absorbing the discharged fluids. As such these articles typically are formed from a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet and an absorbent core sandwiched in-between and are attached to the undergarment of the wearer.
However these products do not provide an entirely satisfactory performance. In particular the key performance requirements of complete absorption of fluid without soiling, comfortable to wear product under all items of clothing and a small and discrete product are not fulfilled by conventional articles available despite continued development effort in the area. One key limiting factor in improvements of conventional articles is due to the fact that they are worn in an undergarment, i.e. decoupled from the body. Typically improvement in one performance attribute ultimately results in a reduced performance in another.
In order to address the absorption and comfort issues, the prior art describes the use of so called body adhesives to attach the articles directly to the skin of the wearer. In this manner the articles can be more effectively positioned so as to ensure direct absorption of the discharged fluids whilst being independent of the location of the undergarments. In this manner for example the problem of bunching which result in wearer discomfort can be reduced.
For example GB 2 284 767 discloses sanitary napkins provided with a body adhesive to attach the article the wearers' torso. U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,363 discloses pressure sensitive hot melt adhesives for sanitary products. WO 96/13228 discloses absorbent articles having an adhesive applied to the body facing surface for securement of the article to the wearer without pain upon removal.
Similarly WO 98/27918, WO 98/28023 and WO 98/81014 disclose adhesives defined in terms of rheology for secure attachment of absorbent articles to the skin which providing comfortable removal with a low and acceptable level of pain.
However the application of adhesive on the topsheet of such articles reduces the surface area of the topsheet available to absorb the discharged fluids and thus can lead to undergarment soiling. As an alternative in the art, a development has taken place in which a container having an attachment flange for secure attachment with the body adhesives described above have been developed. Such articles, as found for example in UK patent 1,092,274, were originally designed as medical devices for the collection of urine or other discharges.
A further step for the menstrual usage of a collection bag was disclosed in EP 1,104,666 and EP 0966936 in which the use of an oval flange in conjunction with a container is disclosed. EP 1,104,666 already shows that the oval/oblong of the flange/opening can be asymmetric in that the aperture and thereby also the flange on one end of the article is wider and on the other end is narrower. The reason for this design can be found in paragraph 34 in conjunction with FIG. 1 of this document from where it becomes clear that the dimension of the flange at the rearward end of the article should be narrow “such that only a limited, if any of the device extends towards the buttocks of the wearer, thereby minimizing bunching and discomfort”. Similarly the device disclosed in UK 1,092,274 is provided with a narrow aperture width towards the rear part of the user where a wedge is said to be snuggly fit into the groove between the labia in the lower area just above the rectum and below the vagina. Also the bag disclosed in this UK reference is formed such that it is apparently intended not to cause discomfort to the wearer, especially in the rearward portion of the article.
It has, however, now been found that the leakage and thereby soiling performance of devices or articles having an oblong shape with a wider front aperture and a narrower rear aperture, despite their indicated improvements and comfort, are dissatisfactory in respect to leakage performance and secure collection of menstrual fluids or vaginal discharges.
In addition to the aspects just mentioned, there is also a need to improve the application of collection container devices to the wearer such that their positioning is controlled and their attachment to the skin of the wearer is providing a secure seal against leakage.
Hence there is still a need to provide an article which can be effectively utilized to collect and absorb menstrual fluids and the like and thereby prevent leakage and soiling, whilst being comfortable to wear, having dimensions which allow the product to be worn discretely, and being applied in a controlled and secure sealing manner.